Vessel Assist Is to Boaters What Automobile Club Is to Drivers

In 1984, for his senior business project at USC, David La Montagne, a licensed yacht captain and ferry boat operator, created on paper a sort of auto club towing service for boaters stranded at sea.

The idea earned him an award from USC, an A in the class and became the basis of a real-life business that is now earning a living for La Montagne and six full-time employees at Vessel Assist, the Costa Mesa company that grew out of La Montagne’s college project. The membership organization offers free non-emergency towing and assistance at sea, similar to the services offered by the Automobile Club of Southern California.

Shortly after creating the business plan, La Montagne, 27, learned of a new Coast Guard policy eliminating routine assistance to boaters with non-emergency problems. The policy, which went into effect in 1984, was prompted by a congressional drive to reduce federal spending.

As a result of the policy change, La Montagne’s business idea became even more viable. After graduation, he revised his plan, found some investors and launched a business called Vessel Assist Assn. of America.

Members can join Vessel Assist for an annual fee of $79 for a regular membership and $120 for a Gold Card membership, which offers additional services. The 4,200 Vessel Assist members can receive services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

La Montagne says the membership fee pays for itself even if a boater uses the service only once a year. “A disabled boater stranded mid-channel between here and Catalina would spend between $600 and $750 on a tow,” he says. “Hourly tow rates are about $120 to $150. But as a member of Vessel Assist, the tow is free and there is no limit as to how many times you can use your membership.”

The Vessel Assist membership area, which originally included Oceanside, Orange County and Redondo Beach, now stretches from the Mexican border all the way to the Canadian border. The company owns a fleet of four tow boats and contracts with 20 other vessels that are independently owned.

La Montagne emphasizes that the membership organization handles only non-emergency calls. Emergency calls are still handled by the Coast Guard, which has recently published a brochure outlining its response policies in distress and non-distress situations. The brochure is called “Getting Help on the Water” and is available by calling the Coast Guard boating safety hot line number at (800) 368-5647.

Most Vessel Assist calls come during the day on nice, sunny weekends, La Montagne says. “People think that we would get lots of calls in the middle of the night or when it is stormy, but that’s not so. Most of the calls coming in during that time would be emergency calls, handled by the Coast Guard. Most of our calls are on nice weekend days when more people are using their boats. We just don’t get calls when it’s crummy weather because most people don’t take their boats out.”

In addition to free towing services, Vessel Assist members also receive discounts on marine fuel and get unlimited use of the Vessel Assist radio message center to leave or retrieve messages.

La Montagne’s goal is to expand the Vessel Assist membership area to include the entire U.S. coastline. Until then, he is investing all of his profits in the business, he says.

In the meantime, USC has not forgotten La Montagne and his senior class project. Last November, La Montagne received the university’s prestigious Alumni Entrepreneur the Year Award.

Thar She Blows--Whale-watching cruises, lectures, films and free entertainment will be offered during the 17th annual Festival of the Whales, which begins this weekend at Dana Point Harbor.

“Future of the Whales”the theme of the popular 3-weekend event that gets under way at 7 a.m. today with a family-oriented lecture and whale-watching excursion at the Marine Institute.

Whale-watching boatswill depart hourly from Dana Point Wharf.

Entertainment includes open-air concerts, puppet shows and clown acts. The tall ship Pilgrim will be open for tours. Tickets are $3 for adults and $1.50 for children.

Free public tours will be offered aboard Navy boats and Coast Guard Vessels that will be on display at the Harbor Patrol Docks. For a complete schedule of festival activities, call the Dana Point Harbor Information Office at (714) 496-6040.

Row, Row, Row Your Boat--The Newport Aquatic Center is offering 2-week classes in rowing and kayaking for youngsters ages 12 to 18 through the end of May.

The next class begins at 3:30 p.m. March 6 at the center at One Whitecliffs Drive, Newport Beach. Cost is $15. A second class begins March 7, and new classes will begin every 2 weeks. For information, call (714) 646-7725.